My Forex Blog

If you’re new to the world of forex, a bit of congratulations is still in order. Indeed, it’s all about making sure that you really do have a great experience with forex trading, but that will come in time. If you’re still wading through a few concepts and finding that you’re completely lost, don’t worry about it.

Need a resource that gets you in the game fast? Tired of searching through countless pages and still feeling as lost as you did at the beginning? Cut through the clutter and head over to miracleoptions.com.

The truth is that a lot of people find themselves in the same position that you are. They worry that they will never catch up because they really are trying to take their time looking at things. On the other hand, do you really have to rest so carefully when there is really so much ground to cover?

Well, that depends on your own beliefs in the matter. If you want our opinion, you need to continue to push through your forex education on the fly and focus on getting a little better than you were yesterday.

One concept that has a lot of forex traders nervous is the economy. The truth is that forex is something that you do through all seasons — and that means that you will trade during a recession. This is where market sentiment really comes into play. Some people run for the hills when it comes to recession economies and the marketplaces, while other people rush in, looking for a way to capitalize on the markets. It’s all about perspective.

If you’re going to play forex during a time like this, trading smart is really important. You want to be doing a lot more charting than you would if the markets were doing great. You have to really ensure that you know your market inside and out. An error in judgment can really cost you big.

If you’re still new, you want to make sure that you’re entering your stop loss details more carefully. Double check to make sure that you can break out of any position that you open. This will minimize your losses. Continue reading →

If there’s one thing that you need to focus on as an investor, it’s knowing when the catch the wave — and when to let it go. When it comes to making money, it doesn’t get better than forex options trading. You need to make sure that you’re thinking about profit and consistency. This isn’t a side of investing that’s designed for the timid. You have to be bold in order to get big returns. That’s something that a lot of people will assume shouldn’t be the case. Maybe you should take your time. Unfortunately, the reality is that you have to think about the bad economy in terms of opportunities. Just because the economy as a whole is bad doesn’t mean that you can’t make your personal economy better. You have to think about all of your choices and then go with the one that matches your level of risk.

If you’re willing to go with some big swings, you’re going to absolutely love forex trading. Of course, it’s not for everyone. It’s all about managing your risk.

The biggest thing that you need to know about forex options trading is that they allow you to move currency pairs without actually buying them. What they give you is the right to purchase something from the option seller at a set price and time. This means that you might want to get an option to buy two lots of a EUR/USD pair at 1.3000 one month from now. This would be known as the EUR call / USD put (because you are going to simultaneously put in a buy and a put).

If EUR/USD surges up to 1.5000 — you’re in the money. You get two lots for 1.3000, which will leave you getting a nice profit. Of course, if the price drops below the original contract, then you lose only the premium.

This is risky, but definitely worth it. You’ll need to practice a few times before you really get into options trading but this is forex — it’s always about practice first. It also cannot be stressed enough — make sure that you really take the time to research before you just dive in. You’ll need to make sure that you’re actually going to make some profit here. It’s very easy to end up losing money on options trading because you aren’t aware of how the price is moving. You don’t get to just invest based on hunches — good charting is still a must!

In my spare time I enjoy a bit of small stakes gambling. But after playing for a while, I tend to get bored with most of the games that are available online. I can only play virtual blackjack or bingo for so long before my eyes start to glaze over.

A few days ago I was visiting an online gambling review site and read about an intriguing new gambling website where you can win money playing games that are based on real financial markets around the world. Now this sounded interesting!

The site was called Golden Boys. I headed on over to goldenboysbet.com to check it out. It was way cool! You can bet on all sorts of stock market games regardless of whether you are an experienced trader or a novice.

One really enjoyable game is “Tick Poker”, a multi-player table game where you match wits with other players trying to predict whether a particular market will be up or down in price after a 20 second period of play. Talk about rapid fire fun!

With Tick Poker you can wager on movement in a wide range of stock markets (the UK 100 Index, the German Stock Market, US Industrial Average, and more). Games are also available for currency futures (EUR/GBP, AUD/USD, etc.) and even commodity futures such as Gold, Platinum and Natural Gas.

I have to say though, my favorite Golden Boys game is the one they call “Up and Down”. As with Tick Poker, there are numerous markets to play – international stock markets, currency futures, and commodity futures. However, in this game you are playing against the house rather than the other players. You select a market and then wager whether it will be up or down at the end of a predetermined period of time that ranges from 1 to 30 minutes. You can also bet on whether the market price will be an even or an odd number. What makes it really interesting is that the prize for a correct wager varies, depending on overall market trends. It may sound complicated but it’s really not as you’ll see when you check it out.

Here’s another cool thing about the Golden Boys site. You can practice any of their games for free using Virtual Currency (VC for short) rather than real money. Then, once you are ready to begin playing “for real”, you will have become very comfortable with game play.

Please note that players must be 18 years of age or older and located in an eligible country.

Why not check it out for yourself? With the Golden Boys you can be a winner regardless of the ups and downs of the financial markets.

We have a secret for you: all of those old math lessons are coming back to get you, and you better be prepared if you’re going to trade in the world of forex. Thankfully, it’s just theory that will repeat itself over and over, so it’s really not the end of the world if you aren’t catching on as fast as you would like at first.

Let’s go into today’s math concept real quick: the Fibonacci ratio. The term is named after Leonardo Fibonacci, a famous Italian mathematician.

Fibonacci discovered a series of numbers that corresponded to ratios that revealed the natural proportions of just about everything contained in the universe.

The number series was simply: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144…well, you get the idea.

To repeat the numbers, you simply take one and then follow it with 2, then take 1 + 2 to make 3 — the third number in the series, then 2+3 to make 5 — the pattern just repeats itself to infinity and beyond. Not that we’re getting all cartoony on you!

What about that ratio issue? Well, let’s take two numbers from the series: 34 and 55. Fibonacci found that if you divide 34 by 55, you will get .618.

But you want to know what this has to do with your forex trading, right? Right!

These ratios turn into retracement and extension levels in the world of forex, and we use them as support and resistance areas. That’s really all you need to know, but we’ll go ahead and explain it a little better.

You see, you’re going to need to know when to back out of a trading position, and when to push forward. The more information you have, the easier it will be to push forward and get what you want in the long run. You also need to know when you have to back out of a trade in order to protect your profits.

The extension levels are designed to place profits before everything else.

Keep in mind that your charting software that comes with your forex package should be letting you set these Fibonacci points automatically. You don’t really have to calculate them by hand — the software’s job is to do that so you don’t have to worry about it.

As you get deeper into forex trading, you’ll see how all of these connections fit together. We’ll cover more on Fibonacci retracement levels next, so stay tuned!

We all have stresses in life, and those stresses can make us feel crazy and out of control. However, it’s very important to make sure that we keep our eye on the overall goal that we really make to make and go from there. It would be smarter to think about everything that you have planned rather than just assuming that it’s impossible to get things done.

Stress makes us freeze up, and forex is really not the arena where you want to feel like you’re frozen in place. It’s a lot better to find ways to manage your stress and make sure that it doesn’t overtake your life. Unfortunately, we really don’t give this topic enough credit in forex circles.

When there are other issues on your mind, it can really be hard to focus on the things that matter. This leads to a lot of problems down the line. What if you feel like you’re losing control of your account and you can’t stop it? It’s going to make you feel like you need to take either risky plays to try to make money in a hurry, or that you can’t do anything so trying to salve your portfolio is not necessary.

There’s no getting around it — forex is risky, and so if you’re not tolerant of some risk you aren’t going to do very well. It’s a lot smarter to really realize everything that you have going for you in the world of forex, and go from there. That’s the real way to get things done, from start to finish.

It also has to be said that your confidence has to be high. Even when the market gets shaky, you’re going to need to realize that there’s some quality that you have that allows you to make great forex plays. Good education boosts your confidence. If you stay with the classics in forex, you’re going to have a better time than if you just trade on feeling.

The classics in forex include technical analysis, fundamental analysis, and lots of charting. While some forex traders rely on software, we don’t recommend software at all. It’s far too easy to think that you have the world on a string and find yourself without the proper tools to really get out of the market — before it bounces back on you in a negative way.

Now is the time to move forward, step away from stress and make sure that you have everything taken care of one way or the other. Start today!

Everyone gets to a point where they need to start looking into all of their investing options. As you might have already found out, investing really is what you make of it. If you want to make sure that you’re going to be able to really make things happen, you’re going to have to take on some risk. Yes, there are ways to build wealth slowly over time, but if you’re reading forex guides chances are good that you need a little more speed and you’re willing to take on more risk to get where you ultimately want to be. Just as there are conservative options for people that really crave them, there are options for people that are drawn to high-risk, high reward situations.

Forex is really the place to be if you’re into that type of thing, but that doesn’t mean that you get to throw all types of caution to the wind and just do whatever seems to be right at the time. You’re going to actually want to make sure that you focus on the bigger picture and keep your wits about you. That’s the only real way to go when you’re serious about making the most out of your investing situation.

Now, are we saying that in order to embrace forex you’re going to have to jettison everything else you might have picked up in the investing world? Absolutely not. You will just need to make sure that you shift over into getting everything that you’re seeking to get with your new investing plan. Merging the two investment styles is the key to a well balanced portfolio. No one, not even a super forex junkie would tell you to just give up the conservative investment world and embrace forex to the point where all of your money is at stake. That just wouldn’t make sense!

In addition, you also need to make sure that you really do take the time to not only learn the basics of forex trading, but advanced concepts as well. Good forex trading is a matter of strategy. If you’re not looking at strategy, you’re going to have a really hard time making sure that you will be able to make consistent profits.

Is anything in investing guaranteed? Not at all. However, the closer you get to looking at the hard numbers and making decisions base don key market principles, the easier it will be to predict the type of returns that you’re going to get. It’s only when you try to follow every last little trend out there that trouble begins brewing on the horizon.

Good strategy comes from solid information. So you will need to make sure that you have access to a lot of data before you even make any decisions. The right forex platform truly means everything.

One of the most frustrating things you’ll encounter when you enter the world of investing — specifically, the world of forex trading — is that there’s always something new to learn. There’s always something that you need to understand before you can move to the next step of the problem, and if you don’t embrace these new concepts early on, you’re not going to really go very far. Thankfully, it’s quite easy to pick up on concepts over time, especially when you don’t pressure yourself one way or the other. Now is the time to learn the key basics and then build on that information. Over time, you will get exactly where you want to go within the world of forex.

So the first topic that we definitely had to address is swing trading. If you don’t know what swing trading is, this is definitely the guide you need to read.

You see, swing trading as it relates to forex means that you’re trying to catch the wave of a major trend and taking advantage of trades that are profitable. These trades are not long term — a few days to a week is the normal duration. So you’re trying to handle things in the short term which can be risky — but very profitable. A lot of people recommend swing trading because it really does allow you to get a lot of stuff done without a lot of hassle, because the system is so clearly understood. In fact, a lot of forex forums will assume that you know something about swing trading if you’re going to attempt it, so make sure that you keep reading!

Keep in mind that swing trading is not the same as currency day trading — you want to make sure that you are going off real valid data and not just running with volatility. Volatility in terms of pricing and movements can really mess up your analysis, which leads to missed opportunities to make your profits.

Support and resistance are going to be two concepts that you really need to understand as they relate to swing trading.

You will want to look at a trend and identity the moments of support as well as resistance, and then take the opposite view. This means that you execute a trading signal in the opposite direction.

Stop loss orders play well into swing trading — in fact, they are downright necessary. You want to always make sure that you place your stop levels behind the supp-ort or resistance level. Never assume that a trade is just going to take care of itself — you must always make sure that you are in control.

Forex orders are the heart of good trading. The smart investor knows that they will not always be able to babysit their trades, so setting proper orders is a great way to carry out your wishes without falling prey to things sliding out of control before you know it. One type of order that new forex traders really need to understand are stop orders. However, there isn’t just one and that’s what makes it a bit confusing — and downright frustrating when you think about it.

We know that you really want to make sure that you’re looking at just about every angle you can think of when it comes to your upcoming trading portfolio. So if you want to learn your orders, you have to look into the four main types of stop orders inside and out. This guide will get you started.

There’s the chart stop order, which is very technical in nature. Traders like it because it lets you elaborate numerous stops that can be caused by the price charts’ action, or by other indicator signs. Candlesticks get involved as well, so if you don’t have a basis in technical analysis, you might want to make sure that you practice those skills before using a chart stop order. That’s the best way to really understand what’s going on. For example, the swing high/low point gets used, which would mean that a mini lot could get sold at the risk of 150 points depending on the chart, which would be 1.5% of a 10,000$ account — not that much in the long run, though it can be a little scary at first!

Our next stop order is the volatility stop order, which uses — you guessed it — volatility as the real chart stop. When prices move up and down quickly, the broker is going to need to let the position have a bit more room to breath and allow for more risk so that you don’t get stopped out.

By placing a volatility stop, you let the broker use a scaled-in approach to get a better breakeven point as well as better risk management.

The 3rd type of stop order would be the equity stop order. Newbies like it because it’s pretty easy to understand — you’re going to basically be just working the basics. The risk is focused on the predetermined amount of your account on the trade itself. So let’s say that you have $10,000 again, and a broker is going to risk $300 — let’s say that’s 300 points on a mini-lot of EUR/USD. This is pretty easy to understand because it works off of percentages of your account more than anything else. Brokers will take this very conservatively, because too big of an equity position in any single trade can really hurt your portfolio in ways that are hard to recover from. It’s just a matter of making sure that you have everything else taken care of — risk controls go well with stop orders of all kinds, but when it comes to the equity stop order things just make sense.

If there’s one thing that’s going to make sure that you stay successful in the world of forex trading, it’s going to be limit orders. You have to make sure that you are always thinking about the type of order that you want to place, because let’s face it — you’re not going to want to always handle everything manually. There are going to be times where you want to have some of this stuff taken care of for you.

Contrary to popular belief we are definitely not against automation when you know what’s going on. It’s when those fancy forex software programs begin to take over solid thinking and research that we get a little concerned. There’s so much to forex trading that it doesn’t make sense to only think in terms of one strategy over another. The problem with a lot of software solution is that they do not properly adapt with the market. While you run the software and think that it’s making all of the right decisions, you might be leaving money on the table — or entering risky territory without a way to cut your losses if the market flips on you.

Forex orders take care of that. There are quite a few orders that you need to learn about, and these orders are definitely going to keep you safe when it comes to getting things done within the world of forex trading.

The top order that you need to learn is the limit order. This is an order to buy or sell currency at a certain limit. When the market reaches the price that you set, your order is going to be carried out. When you want to sell, your order gets executed when the market reaches UP your limit order price.

There is also the general market order, which gets done a lot but it can be risky. This is because the order indicates when to buy or sell at the running market price. If the market is especially volatile, you might end up having to sacrifice pips when you least expect it. This is because the market can move faster than when the market order is actually given the price of the deal. You can enter or exit a trade with market orders, but it’s up to you to make sure that you are being as careful as possible.

Thinking about expanding your trading efforts into options, but you just aren’t sure if you want to take the plunge? Don’t worry if you just nodded your head while reading this. A lot of people right now are trying to reach for more profitability than what they had. They want to live a life where they don’t have to stress so much about money. There’s nothing wrong with that, and certainly nothing to be ashamed about. You just need to figure out what the right move is for your own needs. This takes us immediately to trading options. Forget the negative press that you’ve heard about trading options. The new generations of options is more exciting, while being much easier to handle.

If you go with binary options, you’re going to have a fixed price as well as a fixed return. That’s different from what most people think of when they think of options. They think of the busy trading floors of New York and Chicago, where options are constantly in flux. There’s a bit of volatility involved, but nowhere near as much as you might think. You should visit BinaryOptionsLabs.com to learn more about how to find the best binary options brokers, tools and strategies for your online trading.

Your option has a set time limit, where you find out whether or not you’re in or out of the money. If you’re in the money, you get a certain amount on your return — this can be as high as 89%! If you’re not in the money, then you generally only lose a part of your investment. However, it’s possible to look at market trends to the point where you can “time” a lot of your options to be pretty profitable.

This might sound like a shock to you, especially if you’re coming from a traditional “stocks and bonds” background. You might even think that trading options is a big scam, and that no one actually makes money from it. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You’re getting into a world filled with possibilities, one where you can make money consistently. Everything is laid out, from the time the option is set to expire all the way up to the type of return that you can expect to get. Yes, there’s a chance that the market will move in the other direction. You’re still going to have to turn yourself into a very educated trader, but the sky is the limit in terms of profitability. Why not check it out today, while it’s still on your mind? Good luck!